Peer review before trial conduct could increase research value and reduce waste

Traditional peer-review of clinical trials happens too late, after the trials are already done. However, lack of methodological rigor and presence of many biases can be detected and remedied in advance. Here, we examine several options for review and improvement of trials before their conduct: protocol review by peers, sponsors, regulatory authorities, and institutional ethical committees; registration in registry sites; deposition of protocol and/or the statistical analysis plan in a public repository; peer-review and publication of the protocol and/or the statistical analysis plan in a journal; and Registered Reports.
Source: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: Commentary Source Type: research